Gado, C. D. (n.d.). Live Stock to 2020 the Next Food Revolution. Retrieved from http://www.netlibrary.net/

Description
Nutrition Reference Publication

Summary
Electronic reproduction.

Excerpt
Excerpt: Fore word The com bined per cap ita con sump tion of meat, eggs, and milk in devel op ing coun tries grew by about 50 per cent from the early 1970s to the early 1990s. As incomes rise and cit ies swell, people in the devel op ing world are diver si fy ing their diets to include a vari ety of meats, eggs, and dairy products. This trend toward diversified eating habits is likely to continue for some time to come and it has led to considerable controversy about the risks and opportunities involved. Some observ ers fear that greatly increased demand for feed grains will raise the price of cere als to the poor. Others are concerned that higher concentration of livestock production near cities adds to pollution. Still others worry about the public health effects of increased consumption of ani mal fats and the rap idly increas ing inci dence of diseases passing from ani mals to humans. On the other hand, many ana lysts point to the nutri tional bene fits of increased con sump tion of animal prod ucts for popu la tions that are still largely defi cient in intake of pro tein and micro nu trients. Furthermore, livestock traditionally have been an important source of income for the rural poor in developing countries. Finally, increased demand for livestock products may provide an engine for sustainable intensification of small holder food and feed pro duc tion sys tems. A team of research ers from the Inter na tional Food Pol icy Research Insti tute (IFPRI), the Food and Agri cul tural Organi za tion of the United Nations (FAO), and the Inter na tional Live stock Research Institute (ILRI) collaborated to pro duce this comprehensive and even- handed attempt at defin ing the nature, extent, scope, and impli ca tions of what they term the ?Live stock Revo lu tion? in developing coun tries. Look ing for ward to 2020, they argue con vinc ingly that the struc tural shifts in world agri cul ture being brought about by shifts in developing- country demand for foods of animal origin will continue and that increasingly global markets have the ability to supply both cereal and ani mal prod ucts in desired quan ti ties with out undue price rises. They empha size, however, that policy decisions taken for the livestock sector of developing countries will deter mine whether the Live stock Revo lu tion helps or harms the world?s poor and malnourished. The report emphasizes the importance of continued investment in both research on and development of animal and feed grain pro duc tion and proc ess ing, and the need for pol icy action to help small, poor livestock producers become better inte grated with com mer cial live stock marketing and proc essing. It details a host of require ments in the area of tech nol ogy devel op ment for pro duc tion and proc ess ing of live stock prod ucts, poten tial bene fits from new tech nolo gies, and criti cal pol icy issues for environmental conservation and protection of public health.